Marshall Islands Fishery Investigations 1926-27 



Purpose 



The Marshall Islands comprise two chains of islands, the Ralik and 

 the Ratak, which are located in the easternmost part of the Japanese South 

 Seas. This is a virgin fishing ground where no fishery investigations 

 have ever been made. All that we have are scattered reports from mariners 

 of having seen whales and schools of tuna near the islands. The present 

 paper is a report of investigations, chiefly of tuna, carried out during 

 1926 and 1927 in cooperation with the Fisheries School of the Ministry 

 of Agriculture and Forestry. 



Fishing Gear 



1. tuna longlines 



2. tuna trolling lines (ordinary trolling lines) 



3. stick-held net /_ bokeami_/ (for bait investigation) 



The construction of the above gear was of the ordinary sort 

 and therefore the description of it is omitted. 



Research Vessel 



The investigation was carried out during training cruises of the 

 Fisheries School's training vessel Unyo Maru. 



General Outline of the Investigations 



This investigation was divided into two periods during each of which 

 a technologist was ststioned aboard the research vessel by the Government- 

 General. 



from December 6, 1926 

 First Period to January 9) 1927 Ralik Chain 



o 1 tj • j from December 23, 1927 , „, . 

 Second Period %fj Januapy ^ ^ Ratak Cham 



RALIK CHAIN INVESTIGATION 



General Description of the Fishing Ground s 



The area covered by this investigation has never before been the 

 subject of an organized fishery investigation, and is a completely 

 virgin fishing ground. Judging by the eye-witness accounts of mariners, 

 the reports of the catches made by the natives, and so forth, it appears 

 that in general, the Ratak Chain is superior as a fishing ground to the 

 Ralik Chain. It is said that the waters near Mili ani Me jit are parti- 

 cularly rich in fish, and it is reported that whales are often sighted 

 near Arno Atoll. 



